A Lovers' Complaint
by ElleThom
Summary: Yes the apostrophe play is on purpose. This is an AU, a what if that leaves out the finale. In chemistry, the best way to destroy a bond is by adding an unknown agent.
1. Chapter 1

**This is the start of a long one, and my first foray into this fandom, feeling a little meh about the start, but as usual like an old VW Shoraco, it takes me a while to get warmed up, but when i get there...**

**Enjoy guys**

FROM off a hill whose concave womb reworded  
A plaintful story from a sistering vale,  
My spirits to attend this double voice accorded,  
And down I laid to list the sad-tuned tale;  
Ere long espied a fickle maid full pale,  
Tearing of papers, breaking rings a-twain,  
Storming her world with sorrow's wind and rain.

W. Shakespeare

They stepped off the ancient battlefield among a heavy mist that seemed to seep into every cell of their bodies. A heady aroma of morning dew kissed wildflowers assaulted the trio, texturizing the moments as they paced to the car. He, stoic and tall marching as if the regiment were still behind him, holding onto his hard won prize as if it would be taken from him at any moment, and she, solid and heavy in her movements, just inches ahead of the other victor.

The car had been parked at the top of a steep slope. Abby turned with her hands in the universal symbol for assistance offered; which was met with blank determination.

Fuck it, she shrugged off the refusal silently and made her way to the top of the incline. She opened the car door and started the engine. Crane placed his prize onto the back seat and scooted himself to place her head in his lap. "Shouldn't we take her to a doctor?" He asked, long hands wrist deep in red.

Abbie watched him through the rearview mirror as she angled the car out of the tight spot. "Is she breathing?" the words came out far more flippantly than she had heard them in her head.

His hands ghosted over her angular features and chest. "Yes," he answered hesitantly.

"Any visible injuries?" She asked as she called the only person she could think of with any possible connection to a physician who knew how to keep his mouth shut.

Crane mumbled a negative from the back seat as Abbie put pedal to metal and prayed Jenny was in the country.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

"What do you mean she 'just turned up?'" Jenny's voice had taken on the cadence of a high school principal trying to find out what really happened during recess; it threatened to transverse both the Khyber Pass and the naugahyde living room set.

Abbie rubbed her temples in the living room of the large brick house that Jenny had directed them to. The olive green paint matched the antiquated décor, replete with 35 inch wood panel television console and stereo cabinet. "I told you, Jenny, neither one of us had no idea she would be in that field last night. We were called out on lights in the sky—"

"What are you Mulder and Scully now?" Jenny smirked. "Lights in the sky is so twenty years ago. Seriously, no one knew she was coming?"

"It's not like she could have sent an email," It wasn't just the line of questioning that was getting to her, nor was it the fact that her partner was in some clandestine doctor's office with a woman who could teach Schrodinger's cat a few new tricks. Nor, in fact was it the retro living room they were shown to in lieu of a proper waiting room. "We were out in those woods beyond the old standpipe. You know the one?" Jenny nodded "There weren't any lights, but there were a hell of a lot of imps."

"The green ones?" Jenny asked with a memory of another night a few months back and of bites that took weeks to heal.

"Yeah," Abbie assured her.

"I hate those little bastards" Jenny offered with a visible shudder. "Wait, what were they doing there? How did she get there then?"

"You want to hear the story, or do you want to play Barbara Walters in this busted ass living room?" At Jenny's raised hands Abbie went on. "So the imps were everywhere…."

_xXx_

"_Lieutenant?" Crane spoke from behind her; It was a typical move for them in combat, back to back take everything out. _

"_Yeah, I see 'em" she quipped, her service pistol was only gonna take out 9 maybe ten if she was lucky. There were hundreds. She wondered if this is how she was to go out, death by hellish little creatures who looked like those aliens from that old movie 'Mars Attacks!' The full moon cast an eerie glow to their green, turning them fluorescent vomit in color. _

_Even though she could not see him, Abbie knew Crane had his sword poised ready to hit outta the park. Back to back she could feel the rapid thrum of his heart through his wool coat. "Okay, this is all kinds of FUBAR right now." Abbie felt his nod of acquiescence but knew damn well he had no idea what that acronym meant. _

_They stood that way for what seemed like hours before the first onslaught charged them. Crane let out a loud grunt as Abbie fired into the mass of imps. They clawed and crawled over each other, each scrabbling to get to the two of them. _

_She ran out of bullets and whipped the small axe from her belt. The blade made a sickening wet crunch as it sliced through their green skin._

"_They're still coming." Crane screamed at her as if she did not know that the minor army was hell was advancing. Abbie's arms were starting to give, she had lost count of how many she had felled and yet the numbers were not diminishing. In fact, it seemed as if more were coming. "Is this how it happens?" she thought again "Is this my reward for good and faithful service?" But, she neither ceased nor slowed. Neither one of them did. _

_It was Crane who fell first. The sound of his chopping was nearly soothing in its cadence with hers. As long as Abbie could hear his sword and intermittent battle cries, she knew she could keep going. When the last long howl ceased his sword play, Abbie lost her rhythm in slashing. The fetid stench of their bodies, both live and dead, had begun to take their toll on her. "Crane?" she called again then turned to look for him. His prone form was being carried off by a small horde of green goblins. _

_Her first instinct was to run after him, just as she turned, her legs fell from under her. Abbie found herself gasping the exact same frustrated cry that her partner had issued only moments before. _

_She met the ground as if they were old friends brought back together after years of estrangement. Surprising relief flooded her in the milliseconds before the gnarling horde descended on her. _

_As she felt her body succumbing to the inevitable smothering horde, Abbie felt herself being lifted and moved along the forest floor. _

_xXx_

"Wait, so these things were attacking you, you fought them, but instead of feasting on your flesh, they what? Took you on a magic carpet ride?"

Abbie let out a long sigh and wondered how long Crane would be back there with retro Doc. "They were taking us to Hell."

"How do you know that?" Jenny asked.

Abbie awarded her sister's denseness with a glance long practiced by older sisters throughout history. "They're imps, Jenny." Abbie insisted. "Where the hell else would they be taking us? Out to Sizzler's? And anyway they never got us there."

"Obviously, what happened? I mean no offense but if what you are telling me is the truth then I should be making funeral arrangements right now, not arguing with you about the thought processes of the modern imp. "

"Katrina happened, or at least I think she happened. When those things started carrying me, us" she said with a look toward the door that Crane and Katrina had disappeared through. "Within seconds I was out, completely trashed."

"Just like last time." Jenny said with a small nod.

"Just like last time." Abbie clipped. "When I woke we were sprawled out on the forest floor in the exact same spot we had had our battle, but nothing was disturbed. You would have never thought anything more than a picnic had happened there. "

"So you have no idea what happened after you were being taken off." Jenny asked. "What about Ichy? Does he remember anything?"

"He was a bit preoccupied at that point. I don't think it's really run through his head yet."

"He must be…." She trailed off with a shake of her head. "At least she's out, of Purgatory I mean." A pause, two, then "How do you feel about that?"

"I don't have to feel any kind of way about it, Jenny. He was married when he crawled out of that hole."

"Come on, Abs. Don't tell me you aren't feeling some type of way about all of this."

"We are not having this conversation." Abbie spoke. "The important thing here is that not only does Crane have his wife back, but we also now have a very powerful witch for Team Apocalypse. How she got here will be assessed and duly dealt with, without all the drama thank you."

"We still don't know where she came from."

"No, we do not." Abbie answered. "I just think that should be a priority is all I am saying."

Jenny opened her mouth to retort something snappy, but Abbie was saved by the emergence of Crane and the Doctor from the back of the house.

"Miss Mills, Miss Jenny, " he began. "Thank you so much for finding this physician of great ability and discretion."

"Don't worry about it, Ichy" Jenny smiled "How is she?"

The tall man's smile broadened to a radiance neither woman had seen before. "She is awake, well, and feeling herself. It was most advantageous we found ourselves out there last night Miss Mills. I shudder to think what would have come of her had we not been there."

"No shudderin' needed, Ichy." Jenny interjected with a grin. "At least not until later."

Abbie would have jabbed her sister quiet, but Jenny's little sister sixth sense moved her clear of any elder repercussions. instead, she opted to ignore the comment altogether. "Well, what the Doc say? She ready to go out into the great wide world or what?"

Crane nodded and turned just as Katrina Crane emerged through the door. Paler than what Abbie recalled, but somehow taller, she looked around the room like a rabbit in a new hutch.

Abbie plastered in her finest 'getting to know you' smile and crossed the Rubicon. "It's nice to finally meet you Mrs. Crane At least in—"

"—in the flesh, indeed Miss Mills. It is I who am honored to make your formal acquaintance." The newly freed woman grabbed her hands in hers and squeezed as if they were old friends. "In this most trying time, I am certain that we all shall fast become the most ardent of friends. We have much to accomplish." Katrina's eyes scanned the room panned the room. "All of us."

The two sisters exchanged a look silently acknowledging that yes, there were now two of them; perhaps an interpreter would be necessary. Jenny took the opportunity to wave by way of introduction and excused herself under the guise of settling up with the doctor.

"Well, I think, we should get you folks home, get you settled in Mrs. Crane—"

"Katrina, please." she insisted with that too familiar smile.

Ichabod stood, watching the two most important people in his life interacting with one another. He didn't notice the strain in Abbie's smile, or the hesitant way she took his hand when he offered it to her. He didn't notice the way she small like broken glass at the newly reunited couple. Instead of noticing any of these things, nor the nagging in his own head; Ichabod Crane grasped the hands of the two women he loved most and smiled obliviously.

"Let's go home." He said.


	2. Chapter 2

A thousand favours from a maund she drew  
Of amber, crystal, and of beaded jet,  
Which one by one she in a river threw,  
Upon whose weeping margent she was set;  
Like usury, applying wet to wet,  
Or monarch's hands that let not bounty fall  
Where want cries some, but where excess begs all.

W. Shakespeare.

Two weeks of absolute bliss.

That's how long he had with Katrina, from the time they awoke side by side in that field until the moment he realized…..

Two weeks

Crane could pinpoint, in his head, the moment things began to slowly turn in his mind. If he was truthful with himself, it was on the ride from the physician's home, he and Katrina in the back seat of the car.

She lay, curved into his arms and he, holding onto her for dear life.

"This is an odd carriage." She had remarked breathily, he assumed, still a bit foggy from her journey.

"You will find, my love, that things here are strange. "

"I had so hoped, foolishly, that we could have been returned to our time. To live out our own lives in mediocrity," Katrina opined.

He understood her desire; he had had much the same thought in the last seven months. To stop, to simply lay down the mantle and never fight again, "It is enough to know that we will face this together."

Katrina smiled up at him and slipped her long slim hand into hers, and that was when his descent into damnation began.

He stepped in front of the slide and the instant realization that the hand that held his was different. Not from his wife's even over the two hundred years she spent in Purgatory, she was the same. The absolute same. But.

The hand was all wrong. Too smooth, to long, too…..

Crane tossed aside the thought with a shake of his head like an errant leaf in a windstorm. He was intensely happy to have his wife at his side again.

And yet.

Abbie had dropped them off at the cabin with the promise of a return with some supplies and the insistence of being \off the job' for as long as she could hold the apocalypse at bay without him.

He watched Abbie's forced smile set into a hard line of assurance as she turned back toward her car. He took advantage of his own height and reach as he leaned around Katrina and took Abbie's arm. Crane tried not to be offended at the look that crossed his partner's face as he pulled her into a hug. "Thank you, Miss Mills." He spoke into her hair. She hesitated into the contact but eventually he felt her relent, pull her arms around him and even return the tightness of grasp.

"Don't thank me," Abbie replied, a sharp cadence hidden within the fierce whisper aimed to only him. "After you've had some time, we need to figure out exactly how this happened."

He nodded, but said nothing as she let go and he felt the distance in the millimeters as she moved away. Abbie moved backward toward the car. "It's nice to finally meet you Mrs. Crane. " She tossed.

"Pleasure's mine, honestly." Katrina offered. "And thank you, for everything."

Abbie shrugged and opened her car door. The Cranes waved as her car moved along the gravel road and into the distance.

"You two are close." Katrina observed.

He placed long hands on her shoulders and kissed her with all the jubilation he had felt upon finding her that morning. Crane felt all the joy of every single Christmas he had ever woken to, all culminated into one moment. "We should go inside," he murmured close to her ear.

And yet, he could not place the dissidence of reality, she was his wife, everything he recalled, she was the same, even her scent had not changed, nor blemished in the time apart from her.

And yet.

In defiance of his own hesitance, he took her by the hand and led her into the cabin. "I have missed you." he spoke slowly, with intent.

Katrina smiled and took his hand as they walked into the cabin. Together.

xXx

Two weeks he spent with his wife, in the cabin. It was just as it had been the first time after they were married. Katrina cooked for him and he in turn began to introduce her into present day society as easily and gently as possible.

Abbie Mills Had been his anchor in his emergence from death. She had been his true north when no one thing could point him in a direction home. She was his first contact in the morning, and the last face he saw at night.

And yet.

The second day into their reunion and Crane heard Abbie's Propriety kept car horn from the road. Before, she would have just walked in, made coffee and herself at home. Now, he could sense the imaginary barrier that had been thrown up between them. Propriety kept Abbie in her car and at a safe and respectable distance from married couple. The rules had changed and he wondered if it was more than just Katrina's return that had caused it.

He waited for her to exit the car and realized she would not come to him.

"Miss Mills." he greeted her, noting she only opened the door when he emerged from the cabin.

Abbie could see the joy written in his face, his eyes held the spark of pure joy. "Hey, Crane, " she nodded toward the figure looking out of the window. "How is she?"

"Good, she is good. Acclimating better than I did in this brave new world. " he smiled. "And how are you?"

Abbie nodded and turned back to the car. "I brought some things. Clothes for your wife. Figured at some point you two would want to emerge from the friendly confines."

He took the bag from her hands and thanked her. He studied her face but found nothing to belie the joy at seeing him that he had felt when seeing her. |Is everything all right?" he asked.

Abbie sighed to gather strength. "When you have time, we need to discuss what happened the other day."

Crane nodded, had known this was coming. "I don't recall much of that time after we were being carted off." He announced without looking at her.

"Me neither," Abbie admitted, hoisting the box of supplies out of the back seat. "But I am wondering if your wife does. "

He turned, taking the box from her and spoke in quick clipped tones. "She's not ready to discuss it." He said.

"And you know this because you asked her?"

"I know because she is my wife, and I know her better than I know anyone in this world. "

Abbie flinched at the protective tone in his voice, his words came harsher than he realized and she cleared her throat as a warning. "I understand that, Crane, but look at this as we have looked at things that we have come across in the last seven months. This could be a harbinger of something."

"She is not a harbinger, she is a human being, flesh and blood, who has been through an experience that no one else has. She spent over two hundred years in absolute solitude and abysmal half life. I will not upset her."

"Okay," she nodded. "It can wait. But Crane, at some point we have to question her."

He readjusted the box of food and bag of clothes in his hands and turned away from her. "When the time comes, Miss Mills, I assure you we will. Until that time, she needs rest and succor from the hardships she has had to deal with. "

"Uh huh." Abbie spit back, sliding into the front seat. "|'ll ca;; when shit gets real again."

"You do that," he answered over his shoulder.

xXx

"You must miss that weirdo pretty bad if you are desperate enough to be here on a weekend overnight." Irving's voice from the darkness of the late night Sheriff's office nearly sent her for her gun, Abbie considered using it anyway the split second before he placed the peace offering on her desk.

"Nope," she answered, inhaling the sweet scent of Hecky's Rib tips. Abbie reached for the bag on her desk like the last life boat coming off the Titanic. She reached her fingers into the crinkly, oil seeped bag and dragged forth a lone fry. "Mmmmmm," she smiled around the bite. "Not that I am decrying your offering of roasted meat, but I could ask you what sends you out here at…" she looks at the clock on her computer and is nearly shocked herself at the time. "2:34 in the morning."

"It's almost the Witching Hour." He shrugged and settled in across from her, diggining into his own portion. "Course, if Jenny was here and not in…"

"Dublin."

"Dublin, right. She would say that the last two weeks, every hour has become the witching hour."

Abbie nodded by way of answer. "She's a powerful witch that I will not argue with." Abbie said.

"Lest you be turned to something that croaks and lives on a lily pad." Irving smirked. He had been on the frontlines again this time as well. "We're lucky to have her."

"That remains to be seen, Captain. "

Irving gave her a look similar to that he had given his daughter many times, most recently when she decided to start dating. "You feeling some type of way about all of this, Mills?"

"Noo," Abbie hedged. "But I still can't find any answers as to A. How she got here, and two, who released her and why. "

Irving nodded and decided to attack the situation differently. "Have you discussed this with Crane?"

Abbie shook her head. "He's still on his second honeymoon. Its been so quiet around here since Katrina came and, I guess that is the part that is bugging the shit out of me—"

"That Katrina is back?" he asked leaning back into the seat.

"No, that it has been so quiet since she came back. Its eerie. I told Crane to take some time, you know? I figured I would leave them to it until something came up."

"But nothing's come up." Irving said. "Listen, before she left for.."

"Dublin, " Abbie supplied again.

"Right, Dublin. Jenny told me what happened; I mean the parts that you had left out in your unofficial official report. The imps, you two were out gunned. You should have died on that field, no back up. "

Abbie finished chewing on her last fry. "You're saying she saved our lives out there?"

"I'm saying we got a serious fight ahead of us. I think that this whole seven year thing is going to take its toll, on all of us. We are staring into the abyss here; maybe this was one for the good guys. I don't mean to sound too Pollyanic here, but maybe we are looking a gift horse in the mouth."

"Do you remember what came outta that horse later in the story?" she asked with a cock of her head.

"Fair enough." Irving said rising quickly and clearing the remnants of his meal. "Gp and talk to the Cranes. Find out what you can about the real story. I know you tried before, but maybe, they are a little tired of each other enough to come up for air. "

"Thanks for dinner, Captain." Abbie called after his disappearing form. "You never told me what you were doing here at this time of night."

Irving turned and shrugged. "Jut thought you might be hungry." He smiled and left through the glass doors.

xXx

Abbie reached the cabin the next morning to a spring day that reminded her of home plate. She parked the car and made her way to the front door. After receiving no answer from her knock, she made her way toward the sound of a woman's laughter that was like bells from an empty cathedral.

"Miss Mills," Crane waved to her from the path along the river. He turned and said something to his wife before running to meet her.

"Hey, nice day for a walk huh?" Abbie began with a smile she couldn't stop. "I see the clothes fit."

Katrina wore a simple summer gown with a wrap around her shoulders. The color was a good pick, and Abbie congratulated her own fashion sense.

"Come and meet her properly." Crane insisted, taking Abbie's hand in his. "I have told her so much about you, I feel she will love you instantly. "

"All right," Abbie acquiesced. "But we need to talk, Crane. You knew this was coming."

"I promise you, Abbie," he grinned big. "But, first, you should at least meet her. How can she properly trust you if you don't even get to know her first?"

Abbie wasn't so sure, but she followed his lead and came to stand as a trio under the beautiful late March sun. Introductions were made, Abbie smiled and laughed as Katrina told a story about Crane and a wayward pen of piglets.

The three stood at the river that ran directly in front of the old cabin. Crane held his wife's hand while Abbie held herself at a distance.

"It's beautiful." The red head announced, her crystalline voice sliced through the silence the three had been enjoying since emptying out of the sheriff's department issued carriage.

"It reminds me a bit of home, you recall Katrina? The little pond that followed a path to-"

Abbie stopped listening there, it wasn't any of her business what those two had shared, or would share, or were sharing now.

And yet, the pain of being excluded seeped into her bones a little with each word from her partner's mouth.

Katrina kneeled on the path and placed her naked feet into the river. Crane soon followed beside her as Abbie stood next to the two of them. "Come, Miss Mills." Katrina insisted. "Its most refreshing."

Abbie nodded but took a step back. She looked over the other side of the water and nearly screamed. "Crane, " she spoke calmly. "You two had better come on up."

Crane and Katrina turned to look at her. "Miss Mills, the water is perfectly fine." He insisted.

Abbie pointed and removed her gun with her other hand. "Now, Crane." She insisted.

He took his wife's hand and helped her out of the water. It wasn't until the three were standing that he realized what had his partner so concerned.

Off in the distance, seeping in small but increasing increments, on the banks of the river opposite where they stood, the water had become blood red.


	3. Chapter 3

Of folded schedules had she many a one,  
Which she perused, sighed, tore, and gave the flood;  
Cracked many a ring of posied gold and bone,  
Bidding them find their sepulchres in mud;  
Found yet moe letters sadly penned in blood,  
With sleided silk feat and affectedly  
Enswathed and sealed to curious secrecy.

W. Shakespeare

"Remember that conversation I've been mentioning?" Abbie asked, arms folded.

Crane continued his steady pace around the cabin's great room. "This makes no sense." he insisted. "Why would the water turn to blood?"

Abbie sighed, realizing he had chosen to ignore her She sighed and ran her hand over her hips. Rhythmic chugging in a stop and go pattern assaulted her ears. Across the room, katrina, as if mesmerized turned the tap on and off. "still red." he said out loud to no one.

Abbie nodded and gathered her strength. Taking a step toward the woman at the faucet, she spoke. "Mrs...Katrina, hey I know it's been a bit crazy for you, but I need to-"

"Miss Mills," Crane interrupted, he had come to her elbow and Abbie ully expected him to grab her arm and lead her out the door. perhaps our efforts would be better suited to researching the incident."

She turned on him then. "The water in this town has turned to blood, Crane. Somehow i think the research should begin with the strange reappearance of your wife."

The sudden silence in the room was broken by the jangle of Abbie's iphone.

"Wanna tell me why we are experience the first plague of Egypt," Irving shot from a distance, Abbie assumed he had put her on speaker while trying to handle ten things at once, those ten things more than likely had to do with the sudden sanguination of the public drinking water.

Abbie shrugged as if he could see her surrender. "Not precisely at this moment, Captain." She looked around the room; Crane had come to stand beside her, ear bent into the phone as if he were entitled to it. Perhaps he was and Abbie was just not feeling he was an active member of team Witness.

Not as long as questions surrounding his wife were still off limits in any of their conversations. "We just discovered it ourselves here, sir."

Irving's voice was strained and in danger of leaping through the phone in effigy. Abby could not imagine how much restraint he was using to not scream. "Think maybe you two could break up the afternoon tea long enough to give me a hand around here?"

Abbie loved the man, she did. there was a lot about Captain Irving that was ore than admirable. Plus, he had great taste in ribs. the problem was, he was a tad bit of a drama queen. "Captain, as soon as i get a handle on things here, we will make it out that way."

"By a handle on things," the man on the other end of the phone spoke, "I am assuming you are referring to interrogating the witness."

"Small and capital 'W' yes sir." She threw a look at Katrina, who had ceased her own interrogation of the bloody faucet and was now engaged in a staring contest with the tea kettle. "Just get here as soon as possible." Irving reiterated before ending the call.

"We should go and investigate this." Crane insisted mid pace. "Water turning to blood is at the root o many Biblical-"

"Back up," Abbie said. She had unconsciously assumed the Lieutenant in charge tone to her voice. "Before we start to look into what is happening now, we need to back track and assume that eents have been set into place a while ago."

Crane stared at his partner as if she had now grown a second head. "Miss Mills, i don't see how this is not been in place for a time. What have we been fighting for nearly a year. You yourself have-"

She cut him off a second time and raised her hand. She angled her head toward the woman in the kitchen. "It's time, Crane."

"I don't understand." he flustered.

Abbie walked over to where Katrina stood. The red haired woman turned to meet Abbie's gaze, her green eyes ablaze. "I know what you want to ask me." Katrina began.

Crane moved across the room in three quick strides to stand beside his wife. "Miss Mills, wife has had nothing to do with this. You were there, how can you even ask?"

Abbie squared her shoulders but pushed forward. "I saw the water begin to turn red when her feet touched the water." Abbie paused but went on. "I know that, no offense Mrs. Crane-"

"Katrina, please." she corrected, the older woman's voice seemed to gain strength.

"-but we don't know where you came from. That night in the forest. We were being carted off into Go knows what. Now, I can't speak for your husband, but i certainly can attest to not knowing what the hell happened out there that night. Care to cast any light on the situation?"

"I don't believe this is the right time nor place for an inquisition." Crane said as he placed his arm around Katrina. "Perhaps we really should focus on the matter at hand."

Katrina moved nearly imperceptibly, away from her husband's grasp. She seemed to rise in height by six feet and addressed Abbie. "Miss Mills. I understand your line of questions, it is most relevant to ask these things given light in present circumstances." Katrina placed her hand on her husband's cheek. "He does attempt to protect me." she smiled.

"Mrs-Katrina, if we could get to the heart of this. what do you remember about that night?"

Katrina nodded and moved away from Ichabod. "I don't remember." she offered solemnly. "I was just as surprised to find myself here."

Maybe it was her downcast stare, or her reticent body language, but Abbie had a hard time beleiving her. "Are you sure, Katrina? You don't recall anything?"

Katrina shook her head. "No, I tell you honestly. I don't recall anything from my last moment in Purgatory until waking with my husband at my side."

Abbie sat at the rough hewn table and motioned for Katrina to do the same. "Katrina, can you tell me what you were doing before you left Purgatory. What was the last thing you recall?"

Crane spoke up. "She's answered already, Katrina says she does not recall what happened. I don;t see how further interrogation could be helpful."

Abbie favored her irritated partner with, what she hoped, was a look of fiercely intentioned patience. "Crane, step away." she offered quietly. "Unless you have something to add that is helpful in this, you need to stand down. " Her voice had not risen in cadence nor ardor. Abbie knew he would fight her in this,; knew firsthand how protective he could be of Katrina. What she was not ready for was the act of God pushing things to a faster tempo.

"I see no need to continue this conversation." Crane went on. "She has said we are equally measured in our memories from a fortnight. We have established that there is nothing new here to learn. At least not at this time. Perhaps we should tend to the matter at hand and go see about the water? I would assume that was a more pressing matter."

She hated his logic, but mostly because he was right. Abbie placed both hands on the table and stood. "All right, we are in a situation here. Obviously you are not in a place where you can speak about this."

"There is nothing to speak about, Miss Mills." Katrina said.

Abbie nodded, she had not realized this would be that hard. "I need to head to the station."

Crane moved to get his coat and follow her. Abbie wanted to tell him to stay where he was, but she had learned early that arguably, he would eventually be needed. Letting him tag along had become less tagging, and lore saving herself an extra trip to go and get him anyway.

XxX

The streets were paced. Abbie almost regretted taking the extra ten minutes to argue with the Cranes. The parking lot of the Buy More spilled over with SUV's and panicked people. "Irving said it was the running water that was affected. The stuff in bottles, still potable."

"Seems ironic." Crane said. "Water from taps and lakes completely fouled, whereas the water we are forced to pay for, unharmed."

Abbie grinned despite the situation. "Told you that stuff will kill you."

"Indeed." he said.

"So what do we know about water turning to blood." Abbie asked.

"Well, it's obviously one of the signs of the Apocalypse." Crane said. "_The third angel poured his bowl into the rivers and the springs of__water__, and they__turned __into__blood__."_

"Revelations 16:4." Abbie said. "But unless i got my bible trivia wrong, there is a a whole slew of things that happen before we even get to Crimson Tide. "

"Perhaps. Or, perhaps there were signs that we have missed." Crane offered as he thumbed through Washington's Bible.

"You mean seas boiling and dying? Dead rising from the grave? I think we would have..." Abbie stopped and looked at Crane. "On second thought."

"She wasn't dead Lieutenant." Crane insisted. "Why must you insist on continually returning to this line of thought? That my wife had anything, _has_ anything, to do with this is preposterous."

"And yet here we are." Abbie said. "And I don't know what Sunday School you attended, but where i am from, Purgatory is dead."

"As you so eloquently put it before, the rules on tht have gotten a little 'bendy.'

Abbie flinched at the memory of her friend's twisted corpse. "Be that as it may, i ain't calling Andy and havin' him over for dinner, either." she threw. "There's dead, and then there is dead

They arrived at the station to find complete chaos; phones rang incessantly, shouts and clipped conversations from the other officers were drowned in a sea of angry words being lobbed from civilians who felt the police should fix the problem immediately.

Irving caught them on their way to the archives. "I certainly hope you know what the hell this is all about. I got the National Guard patrolling the Buy More and the Wal-Mart has become a DMZ"

"We're just going to find out something now, "Abbie answered.

"It's definitely Biblical." Crane offered.

"No shit, Sherlock." Irving cut. "Just get to the Bat Cave and get me some answers before i completely lose any pretense of control of this situation." He nodded and turned to Abbie. "Mills, a private word, in my office?"

Crane opened his mouth to say something but clamped it shut again quickly. He knew what that private word would be about but was hesitant to create more havoc in an already tight situation. Instead he turned toward the glass doors and left the two of them to their idle gossip.

XxX

"So, you don't believe her, then." Irving asked room the corner of his office nearest to the phones.

"It's not that i don't believe her, it's that i know she is lying. Whether she has anything to do with this or not, she is definitely keeping something. " Abbie said.

He nodded and went on. "Do you trust him to be impartial in this?"

Abbie shrugged, nodded, then shrugged again. "If it was about anything else, Captain, i would answer with a resounding yes. But.."

"Put Jenny on the other side of the research when she gets in later tonight. " He raised his hands aas Abbie geared up to fight. "I know, I know, but i think having someone else in this on the other side, completely impartial-"

"-I'm impartial." she insisted.

"Someone not so close. Look, we know Jenny has connections that we aren't even to the surface of. Pass any information through her. She'll understand."

Abbie wasn't so much worried about her sister understanding so much as her sister's ability to be discreet. She'd already seen Crane's reaction to the recent events, she knew Irving was right, but she wished Cane had been able to be more removed she had to admit she missed his insights into things. "Yeah," she nodded.


End file.
